Philippines starts evacuating Filipinos from Tripoli: gov't

MANILA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines started evacuating its citizens from Tripoli on Thursday almost two weeks after intense fighting broke out in the Libyan capital, the government said Thursday.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the first batch of seven Filipinos, including three hospital workers and four students, were evacuated by the Philippine embassy to Tunisia from where they will leave for the Philippines.

The Philippine embassy to Tunisia charge d'affaires Elmer Cato said 13 more Filipinos who requested assistance in getting repatriated are expected to be evacuated to Tunis in the next few days.

Cato appealed anew to Filipinos in Libya estimated at 1,000 to "seriously consider (the government's) offer to bring them or their children home" to avoid getting caught in the middle of ongoing clashes between rival factions.

The Philippine government has imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Tripoli and areas within the 100-km radius of the Libyan capital.

News reports said the escalation of violence in and around Tripoli has caused the displacement of thousands of people fleeing fighting, and blocked emergency services from reaching casualties and civilians, and damaged electricity lines.

Clashes with heavy weapons have been affecting residential areas, and an unknown additional number of civilians are unable to flee these locations, the reports added.